Israel and Egypt both closed hotly-anticipated bid rounds for key offshore East Mediterranean acreage on 16 July. While MEES learns that the number of bids received by Cairo was less than hoped for, Israel looks set to see major new players join key current operator Chevron.

“Following the closing of submissions for the Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure’s bid round, four consortia, composed of nine different companies, of them five new to the Israeli market – have submitted six bids to receive licenses,” Israel’s ministry announced on 17 July. The licenses relate to multi-block ‘zones’ of which four were on offer (see map & MEES, 16 December 2022). (CONTINUED - 1678 WORDS)